5 comments about Love from the Heart of the Home: A Keepsake Book.

1. This book by Susan Branch is indeed a quaint keepsake. It`s filled with easy recipes, quips, quotes, and fun stories. I especially like that each page is unique and pleasing to the eye. With her own whimsical artwork and hand written style, I found it most enjoyable!



2. This is a beautiful book to give at a bridal shower or as a wedding gift. There are wonderful drawings and the quotes and sayings are lovely. I especially love the "advice on marriage":

   When you marry him, love him
   After you marry him, study him
   If he is secretive, trust him
   If he is sad, cheer him
   When he is talkative, listen to him
   When his quarrelsome, ignore him
   If he is jealous, cure him
   If he cares naught for pleasure, coax him
   If he favors society, accompany him
   When he deserves it, kiss him
   Let him think how well you understand him
   But never let him know that you manage him.

   Susan Branch is the best.




3. This is the first book I have bought by Susan Branch and I could not put it down. Her ideas are so wonderful. In fact - I am going to buy every single one of her books. I love the quotes and sayings. There are so many wonderful ideas to share with your spouse. A definite must have.



4. This keepsake book is a great gift idea for someone who has recently gotten engaged or as an anniversary gift. It has adorable illustrations and the lists are actually useful (traditional anniversary gifts).



5. I used this book for Valentine ideas for my husband. The steak and potato recipes are divine! My husband loved it! This makes a terrific wedding shower gift, or just a fun b-day present. All Susan Branch books are wonderful and this is one of her best!

No comments about What Makes a Great Exhibition?.

2 comments about What Happened to Art Criticism? (Prickly Paradigm).

1. James Elkins took the trouble to reflect on how art critics are doing their job or rather not doing it. Finally someone is saying that a lot of art critics are no different from news reporters among others: they either have no opinion, or they do not have the guts to express an opinion or it is not in their interest to express and/or have an opinion. Since James Elkins describes in detail how an art critic earns a living we suspect the latter is true. He explains very well how art critics prefer description to opinion because it does not ruffle any feathers. Though a sad one a very good book that makes us realize how in art criticism, as in other fields, thinking for oneself is either dangerous and/or passe and/or not worth the trouble. In short art criticism has lost a lot of its former excitement: could it be like the art it describes one wonders...



2. Without going into superlatives or hyperbole, the strength of this book lays within its insightful examination of the breadth of critical writings as they pertain to art in the last 50 (or so) years. It was interesting enough that I did not want to put it down, and it was a quick-enough read to keep on the shelf for future review.

5 comments about Art as Experience.

1. Dewey discusses making art and viewing art are not unique activities -- that discipline, engagement and commitment are basic to art in the same way they are basic to other work.
   
   The book undermines the notion that Art is somehow arcane and academic. It's not, the book suggests. It takes work to make art, it takes work to appreciate it, but it is a democratic sort of work, and good art stands up, even when it is not cosseted in museums or galleries.



2. It's a little thick, but you have to consider it's based off of his lectures. From the point of view from a philosopher, he gives insight into things that we as artists might already know, but have never realized, and even other stuff that's impossible to see that only someone from the outside could see.



3. As a reviewer below stated, this is a very interesting book that treats art as a means of recapturing the experience of life and trasmitting that experience to the audience. He captures a number of concepts established earlier by Leo Tolstoy in his "What is Art?" and delves deeper into them, expounding on their more practical and less esoteric uses.

   Dewey, however, certainly earns his title as a pragmatist. His wording is complicated and, at times, careful. It is difficult to pin specific sayings or doctrines to him. However, once the task is completed, he has a great deal of important things to say about art and artistic experience.




4. if you are an artist this book will blow your mind.

   it is pretty theoretical, but if you can get through the first 20 pages.. and get into his vibe.. it's BEAUTIFUL.. (yum).

   This is probably the most important book i've ever read. You trust katie, you! you buy! you buy!!




5. Although somewhat dated in that what Dewey novelly stated long ago, we now accept as obvious, this is a great book to gain an understanding of art both as a producer and as a spectator.

   The central theme is that life is an experience, and that the goal of art is to recapture that experience. Hence, a painting of a flower is only valuable in the way that it captures the essence of a flower, or the experience of viewing a flower. The viewing of a painting must also provide some of the experience of making that painting ( its process ).

   If you can manage to finish the book ( the style is a bit archaic ), the experience is worth the effort.

2 comments about Paperback Covers of Robert McGinnis.

1. Well, right off the bat let me just say that if you are a Robert McGinnis fan, you must have this book. The production standards are terrific and the reproductions of paintings, from the originals, are as crisp and eye-popping as you always hope for in an art book. The book is also a valuable companion volume to "Tapestry" released. last year and covers completey new ground in terms of illustrations reproduced. All this said, I do have a quibble with the thought that went into the layout. Fine coated art paper is used throughout and what did the authors do? They filled up huge portions of this gorgeous paper with a complete checklist of McGinnis paperback covers, rather than the illustrations us fans were looking for. The checklist is a valuable tool for those who wish to compile a complete library of McGinnis paperbacks, (say, 5% of the people who love the work of McGinnis), but it could easily have fit at the back of the book on cheaper stock, which would have left room for dozens (if not hundreds) of color McGinnis covers. Oh well! Still good, but it was "this close" to being great!



2. Robert McGinnis is one of America's most gifted illustrators and the breadth of his talent was well-documented in his art book, TAPESTRY. Pin-ups, Westerns, movie posters--the guy could paint it all. THE PAPERBACK COVERS OF ROBERT MCGINNIS, though featuring several paintings as well as pencil roughs and a couple of photo references, is not an art book, but rather is a rather pricey checklist geared toward paperback collectors. The majority of the color works are small reproductions of the actual covers as they originally appeared--and the focus is firmly on McGinnis' detective covers with the other genre's he's worked in getting barely a nod. Even so, I would have preferred to see large reproductions of the artist's trademark femme fatales unmarred by titles instead of the plethora of tiny second-generation reproductions found in this volume: the format and content is geared SO much toward the hardcore collector mentality that the editors/authors seemed to have lost track of the ART and the ARTIST they supposedly revere. A disappointment.

1 comments about Ceramic Millennium.

1. Simply the most erudite collection of essays on the history of Ceramic Arts in the U.S. and current issues theoretically and philosophically. As an artist, knowledge is power, and this is the most powerful (and ONLY) collection of essays available.

2 comments about Image on the Edge: The Margins of Medieval Art (Reaktion Books - Essays in Art and Culture).

1. I had to read this for a class. This is not for anyone unless you are searching for strict information. Camille manages to give countless astute observations that would be very helpful in building up a paper. But as historical book unto itself that guises itself as text interpreting Medieval Europe through rebellious artwork, it just doesn't hold much water. The confines here are soooooo narrow that unless you have already a great passion for artwork of this period you will be left quite numb.



2. For readers unfamiliar with the culture of the Middle Ages, it is surprising, and perhaps even disconcerting, to learn that a medieval manuscript of a prayer-book could contain marginal images of human excrement, or that medieval churches were frequently adorned with gargoyles depicting diabolic and uncanny figures. This book by Michael Camille, professor of art history at the University of Chicago, is devoted to explaining these strange "margins" of medieval culture. Camille essentially argues that, while such marginal images could on the face of it be interpreted as subverting the conventions of the dominating center of culture, they ultimately served to reinforce it. As the author puts it on page 127, "the edges of discourse...always return us to the rules of the center." In other words, medieval artists toyed with the margins of culture, with "otherness" and difference, yet ultimately sided with the "good" and the "normal." Interestingly enough, the marginal images which were so typical of the high Middle Ages disappeared at the beginning of the modern age. Camille suggests that the margins lost their function of hinting at the ugly reverse of mainstream culture in an age where the mainstream both asserted itself more strongly, rigorously demarcating "low" from "high" culture, and at the same time dissolved difference in the medium of bourgeois taste. Peasants and drunkards, for example, became the explicit object of a genre called the "grotesque." At the end of this fine book, Camille writes: "art collapsed inwards, to create a more literal and myopic dead-center [devoid of the medieval playfulness], taking with it edges and all" (p. 160).

2 comments about African American Art and Artists.

1. Excellent book! It has pictures and a bio on todays black artists. My favorite would have to be Ben Jones, my old college professor! lol www.Gallery07002.com



2. Samella Lewis has updated and further developed her definitive guide on African-American Art. As a former student instructed on the subject with her first edition of this book as our class text, I can definitively say that this book provides a solid understanding of the different art movements and a variety of examples of the works. Also from the perspective of a young museum professional who has worked with African-American art collections, I highly recommend this volume as a foundation of basic knowledge on the subject.

5 comments about Foucault For Beginners.

1. A good introduction to beginning an understanding of a philosopher that has a complex and insightful approach to power relations, and ways of viewing human history. However, this is a basic introduction - and one shouldn't hope for a thorough review of the works of Foucault. I think this is a book that invites anyone interested to pick up a further book on Foucault to follow on and learn more.



2. As a beginner, the book presents Foucault as a documenter - discussing and disecting the history of power and professional relations. He covers knowledge and power, sexuality, prisons, mental health.... The span is enormous, highlighting Foucault's multidisciplinary reputation.
   
   The downside of the book (indeed a limit of the Manga-like series) is it spends too much time on Foucault's role as as a chronicler of data, and leaves the reader on their own for much of his conclusions. An example: the book talks of Foucault's description of the medical clinic and doctor's "Gaze" but the book doesn't share if Foucault thought this was good or bad. Given Foucault's well deserved reputation as a complicated writer, this beginner could use the help.



3. This is by far the best intro to Foucault I've read. Thinking like Foucault use lots of complex language and have really complex ideas, but this book explains those ideas in a very easy-to-understand way. It's short, so you'll be finished quickly, but you will get a really good (introductory) sense of Foucault's entire project. That sense will stick with you pretty well, too, because every page is illustrated. This is an important thinker, and I can't imagine a better introduction. Read it.



4. FOUCAULT FOR BEGINNERS

   Foucault's range is amazing. Very few disciplines escaped his epistemological examination. His examination includes literary criticism, criminology, and gender studies. Arguing that definitions of abnormal behaviour are socially constructed, Foucault explored the power relations between those who meet and those who deviate from social norms. Foucault's examination of the birth the prisons includes a very graphic description of early punishment and the orgy of suffering does not escape Moshe Süsser's and is cleverly written by Lydia Alix Fillingham. This book gives a very brief introduction to Foucault's work (or the part of it that interests us), plus a very good bibliography.

   According to Foucault, people do not have a 'true' identity. In essence, the self is a product of discourse. Identity, is performative our interaction with others, but this is not static. It is a dynamic, temporary and shifting. Foucualt centers his epistemology around power, knowledge and language. People do not really have power per se. Power is a force which people engage in - as in power knowledge and language. Power is not owned; it is used. Where power is, there is also an equal and opposite reaction.

   I was particularly impressed by the treatment of "The Birth of the Clinic" since this is one of the few of his works that I missed and hope to read soon, it placed for me the significance of his play on power and the gaze. I get the sense that "The Birth of the Clinic" is a spin-off from "Madness and Civilization" based on his take of the dis-empowerment of the sick (not well, not normal) as well as the mad. I understand when this comic book mentions that reading "The Order of Things" is not the best starting point to understanding Foucault and I will venture to "The Archeology of Knowledge" aremd with this introduction and the other readings I have done on Foucault. A primer, I think it is a really good start. However, in reality, Foucault and French deconstruction is NOT infinitely incomprehensible. Conversely, be warned, if you think you can read this as a substitute and come to class to discuss Foucault, you might be disappointed.I highly recommend this to start and hopefully it leads you to the fascinating maze that is Foucault.

   Miguel Llora




5. I picked up this book to help me prepare for a short presentation I had to give on Foucault. Since I had very little time to do reasearch (only 2 weeks), reading through a book such as Discipline and Punish or even the Foucault Reader was out of the question. This was a great introduction to Foucault's general theories, and it included brief synopses of specific works. The writing style is quick-to-the-point and full of light humor, and the comic book style added to this feeling. I especially enjoyed the way this book used certain stories and situations to put some of Foucault's points into "lamens terms". It also tells you which of Foucault's books make the best starting points, for anyone who wants to read "the real thing".

   I will agree with some of the other reviewers that some of the explanations were a little TOO brief, but that's to be expected with such a short book. Despite this minor imperfection, I was able to walk away completely understanding the major points of Foucault's study. Not to be counted on as a single source, this book is best used as an introduction, or a companion, to the works of Foucault.

5 comments about Saul Steinberg: Illuminations.

1. I confess - up to now, I had written off Saul Steinberg as "that New York poster guy." Then I got this book at the library, and what an eye-opener! This is an artist with an amazingly strong vision and message, often bitingly satirical, with incredible figures and dazzling compositions, working in a surprising range of materials (pencil, ink, watercolor, crayon, and rubber-stamping - often on the same piece).
   I particularly delight in his wide-ranging "cartoon" people - playing style against style, turning expectations inside out, displaying a strong commentary on modern America with his demented cowboys, high-fashion women, and multiple little stamped inspectors offering a silent commentary to the various goings-on.



2. this is the biggest ilustrator of the world,you'l never been disappointing with this book, a great gift for desing artist!



3. This book sums up most of the best work of Saul Steinberg, and for those who like his graphics, an absolute "must have"



4. The marvelous Saul Steinberg exhibition at the Morgan Library in NYC is almost too much to take in even if one devotes an entire afternoon. Unlike some art exhibitions, Saul Steinberg's work is full of references and verbal ques that make ones brain fire on all cylinders simlutaneously. That can be exhilarating, but also exhausting. Saul Steinberg, the book, allows one to take in the artists's work in smaller bites: indeed, you can dip into the book at any page and be well fed. Don't miss the exhibition. But then, make sure you get the book.



5. First, I must confess that I am predisposed to enjoying this book. I love everything about the man and his work. Over the past several years I've acquired fourteen volumes of Steinberg's art as well as other printed pieces. Before the internet this would have been almost impossible and very costly. My earliest recollection of art I had strong feelings about goes back to the late 1940's when I saw a series of drawings by Saul Steinberg in The New Yorker.
   
   That being said, this catalog is one of the finest volumes of his work to date. It is a generously sized book at 10 x 12 inches, hardcover and 288 pages. It is printed on a matte coated paper which means the reproductions are excellent. The book is very well thought out. It begins with two illustrated essays. They are followed by the catalogue of the exhibition. This is followed by notes, chronologies and other information which illuminates Mr. Steinberg's career.
   
   It is a very well designed book. The type choices and page formats make it quite easy to actually read. This is not always the case since the advent of computer composition. The catalogue section gives each work of art a two-page spread. The title, pictorial information and a brief commentary are on the left facing page and a reproduction is on the right facing page. The illustrations are large and accurate to the originals. For some art works there are extra illustrations below the commentary on the left facing page.
   
   If you are intrigued about this artist, Saul Steinberg ILLUMINATIONS, is a must for your library. To round out your collection, consider purchasing STEINBERG AT THE NEW YORKER which was recently published and should still be available. If you are interested in seeing the actual exhibition, you should be able to find information online at the Saul Steinberg Foundation website.